The ‘on the distribution of growth stresses’ series presented a comprehensive mathematical framework for the treatment of the stress field within living trees. Advancing on Kublers \citep{kubler1959a,kubler1959b} (in German, reviewed in \citet{Archer_1974}) work Archer introduced an orthotropic solution which allowed for each new growth increment to alter the stress distribution within the stem in a self equilibrating fashion. The other advancement made was the increased accuracy from the crossover point from compression to tension now being governed by the moduli in both the radial and tangential directions. Archer went on to develop a numerical approximation to the stress fields generated by asymmetric growth strains and inclined grains, allowing for variation within growth stresses. Finely he used the developed methods to present solutions for a number of hardwood species.